♂?，，

  Zhu Zirui looked up to see the sound of pearls hitting the curtain, and Yuanyu pulled out a woman in a pale pink dress from the inner room. Seeing her beautiful face, elegant figure, and refined demeanor, she had an air of elegance in every move, although she was completely different from the carefree and unrestrained older sister he remembered, but looked even more gentle and refined than before, pleasant to behold.

  He thought to himself, it's indeed a woman like her who deserves Ah Yan's attention, but precisely because of this, he felt even more uneasy, fearing that Ah Yan would invest too much emotion in her, only to end up getting hurt.

  After exchanging greetings, Yuansister smiled and asked, "Sixth brother, how did you come?"

  Taoran Pavilion was still having a feast, and even though it was separated by such a distance, the faint sound of laughter could still be heard coming from that direction, indicating that the banquet had not yet ended. At this moment, Liu Ge, as the champion scholar and host, should have been accompanying the guests over there, but instead he came to Ning Xiang Garden, which left her somewhat perplexed.

  Zhu Zirui smiled warmly, with a hint of affection in his eyes. "A few days ago, you mentioned missing the winter melon sugar from Ningzhou Prefecture Street, right? Yesterday, I happened to see some at a candied fruit shop when I was out, so I bought some and brought them back. I got back late yesterday, and this morning when I went to pay respects to my grandmother, I forgot again. Just now I remembered, afraid that I would forget once more, so I hurriedly had someone bring it over."

  He took out a small box from his bosom and handed it over, asking, "Taste it and see if it's good. If so, I'll have some more brought next time."

  Yuan Jie quickly opened it, took out a winter melon sugar from the box and put it in her mouth, and then hurriedly divided one to send into Ming Xuan's mouth. Her eyes were shining brightly, and she was very excited. "Xuan Jie, the winter melon sugar I've been thinking about every day is this flavor! I didn't expect that Shengjing would have it now too. Once we're all married and the rules aren't so strict, we must go on a trip together to explore all the good things in Shengjing City!"

  Ming Xuan was speechless for a moment, and it took her a long time to squeeze out an "uh". As the sister of Ning Xin Garden, she had no restrictions on what she could say, and in front of her siblings, she could naturally mention words like "going out" and "traveling together" without any burden. But with Zhu Zi Rui, they only met a few times, so it was inevitable that there would be some awkwardness.

  As expected, when she raised her head, she saw Zhu Zirui's gaze looking at her with a hint of inquiry.

  Yuan Jie also noticed this and furrowed her brow, hesitantly asking, "Sixth Brother has come over, is there something else you want to say? Is it...?"

  She seemed to have guessed something, her face changed slightly, and she hastily shook her head, saying, "It's not possible. Xiang'er is about to get married in a few days, if there's any unpleasant gossip, it will be difficult for her to live in the Pei family later on. Sixth brother, I've always respected you, but Xiang'er is my best sister, and if this time you're here to persuade me to arrange a meeting between her and Yan Tanhua, I absolutely won't agree."

  Ming Xuan's heart skipped a beat as she saw her sister protectively position herself behind her, and for an instant, warmth flickered in her eyes.

  Zhu Zirui seemed to be extremely surprised, and then he burst out laughing. His slender fingers reached out to gently stroke Yuanyu's hair, "Yuanyu, do you think I'm a person who doesn't know any better? If that's really what you think of me, what should I do? It makes me a bit sad."

  He paused, turned around and bowed to Ming Xuan again, straightened his face and said, "Seventh sister, Zirui really has a few words to say, but it's not Ah Yan who let me come. He got drunk and is resting in my room, unaware of anything."

  Ming Xuan's smile grew fainter. "Brother, if you have something to say, just say it."

  She didn't have any romantic feelings for Yan Qingye yet, and that good marriage was not meant to be. Although she also felt it was a pity, she wasn't too concerned about it, but Yan Qingye remembered the favor of that one meal deeply, losing and regaining, gaining and losing again, and it's probably not easy to thoroughly forget, so is that why he's drowning his sorrows in wine?

  Zhu Zirui gazed at her for a long time, then spoke in a low voice, "Next month on the 18th is Grandmother's big birthday. If Seventh Aunt is willing to grant us an audience, I humbly invite you and Uncle to attend together."

  He paused, lowering his voice and said, "If Sister-in-law and Brother-in-law are in harmony, Ah Yan should be able to put down her obsession. Zirui knows this request is too abrupt, if Sister-in-law agrees, it will be considered as a favor owed by Zirui to you, and in the future, if there's anything he can help with, he'll definitely not refuse."

  The birthday of the auxiliary country's wife was not originally a whole number, and it didn't have to be done on a large scale. However, this year coincided with Old Master Zhu's promotion and the joy of Sixth Master's son passing the imperial examination as the top scholar, so the entire household discussed inviting relatives for a banquet. Even the auxiliary country master agreed, and Ming Xuan was also included in the guest list even though she had already married.

  Originally was going to come over, just bringing Pei Jingchen, and still want to show affection...

  A glimmer of uncertainty flashed in Ming Xuan's eyes, she didn't know how long Pei Jing Chen would continue to pretend to be ill. If his plan was to temporarily show weakness, then dragging a sick body to attend the birthday banquet would not be good, lest people think he had brought bad luck with him.

  But thinking of Yan Qingye's deep feelings, she felt that Zhu Zirui's method was not bad after all. After some thought, she nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother-in-law, I will."

  Zhu Zirui let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, and with a heavy bow to Mingxuan, said, "I won't forget the great kindness you've shown me, elder sister!"

  He and Ah Yan have been good friends for ten years, studying in the same academy and under the same master. In terms of affection, they can be considered brothers. At first, when he heard that they were going to become relatives, he was overjoyed. Later, when the marriage encountered a twist, his heart also felt uneasy. Now that Seventh Sister has settled her lifelong matter, Ah Yan's feelings should also come to an end here.

  Even if Ah Yan will blame him for being nosy in the future, he still has to do it this way.

  As De Rui's back disappeared from view, Yuanyu'er looked at Ming Xuan with some concern, "Is she okay?"

  Ming Xuan smiled and shook her head, "Nothing's wrong."

  She's not the kind of person who stays stuck in one place. If she can't turn back, then she won't look back, and will single-mindedly move forward. Although Yan Qingye is great, he can't be hers, so she'll resolutely turn around and go find the person who belongs to her.

  Yuan Jie was afraid that Ming Xuan would feel uncomfortable, so she quickly changed the subject. The two of them huddled together in Ning Xin Garden, whispering to each other for a long time, until a young maid from Fu Guo Gong's wife's quarters came over to deliver lunch, and only then did they walk hand in hand again.

  After finishing dinner, Old Lady Zhu took Ming Xuan for a short rest before returning home.

  On the eighth day of June, Yan's sister got married. Because her wedding date was too close to Ming Xuan's, she did not attend and could only hear Mrs. Zhu talk about the grand occasion afterwards. It is said that the second son of Zhongshun Houfu, Meng Guangting, has a gentle temperament, outstanding talent and learning, and he and Yan's sister are truly a match made in heaven. She silently wished Yan's sister to get a good husband and have a smooth life.

  Yuan Jie is so good and deserves the best.

  "Tomorrow is a good day for the wedding, these years have been spent by my grandmother's side accompanying me. Now that I think about it, soon I will be entering someone else's family, and in the future, coming back to see my grandmother won't be as easy. My heart feels like it's being cut with a knife."

  She said with tears in her eyes, "Xuan sister, tonight sleep at grandma's, let's have a good chat between the two of us."

  According to the customs of Shengjing, on the eve of a woman's marriage, she should sleep with her mother, who would instruct her in some matters related to the bedroom. However, Ming Xuan's mother had passed away, and Strict Granny was inexperienced and couldn't teach her anything. So, Old Lady Zhu decided to personally instruct Ming Xuan on how to get along with her husband.

  Ming Xuan knew her grandmother's intention and nodded hastily, "Okay, granddaughter will sleep with grandma."

  As night deepened, Old Lady Zhu dismissed her attendants and the spacious inner chamber was left with only two people, the grandmother and grandson.

  She had Ming Xuan support her to come behind the screen, and after passing through a small door, they arrived at a small room that was not very big. Three sides of the room were lined with cabinets made of agarwood, which reached all the way up to the roof. Next to them was a wooden ladder-like object leaning against the cabinet doors.

  Ming Xuan's face was full of surprise, "What is this?"

  "Xuan sister, is this the first time you've seen your grandmother's private storage? The things here are all my personal savings over the years. Some were secretly given to me by my mother when I got married, some were given to me by my grandfather, and most of them weren't written on the inventory."

  She paused and gently stroked Ming Xuan's palm, saying, "Grandma knew that the days were not rich in the past, originally wanted to give it earlier, but I thought that there was still some silver left in the house, which could also hold on for a while. If I gave it ahead of time and let people know, this family would have made another big fuss."

  Ming Xuan hastily said, "The daily expenses of my daughter are all paid by the public, and with you taking care of her at home, she won't go hungry or cold. It's just that we can't afford to buy those luxurious toys, but it's not worth making a fuss about."

  To be honest, she really didn't have the heart to take care of the household chores for a few days. It was always Xue who took care of these things. Later, when they ran out of money, she rummaged through the warehouse and found some, so she didn't complain about it afterwards.

  Madam Zhu nodded with a smile and said, "Those brocades, satins, and silks, as well as some hairpins and accessories, pick the ones you like, I'll have Hongtao send them to the Washing Jade Pavilion later. These are nothing, what Grandmother wants to give you is this."

  She took out a crimson box from a small drawer and handed it to Ming Xuan, "Whether it's an antique calligraphy or a piece of jewelry, they are all external things that can't be taken away in critical moments. It's better to have silver tickets which won't lose their value as long as the Zhou dynasty doesn't fall. Xuan sister, grandmother doesn't need these, take them to buy land or houses, whatever you like."

  She gently opened it, and saw a thick stack of silver tickets quietly lying in the box. She carefully flipped through them, and found that each ticket had a different face value, but they all belonged to the large silver numbers within the Zhou Dynasty. There were tens of thousands, approximately twenty or thirty thousand taels. She was both surprised and grateful, "Grandmother..."

  Madam Zhu hissed at her, "Remember to hide it well. Later when you go to the Pei family, if life is hard, having some silver by your side will make things a bit better. Your grandmother is useless and couldn't find a good family for you, so you'll have to rely on yourself from now on!"

  She paused for a moment and suddenly smiled, "Xuan sister, there are several books in the drawer on the right hand side, take them out and have a look yourself. If you don't understand anything, ask your grandmother."

  Ming Xuan thought to herself, could it be that the Spring Palace Painting is hidden in this drawer? She took out the album according to her words and caught a glimpse of the mischievous fighting spirits on the cover, her face suddenly flushing bright red. She called out in a mosquito-like voice, "Grandmother......"

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